In the package, there were 21 smaller boxes. Each box contained four pills. The medicine was more valuable than gold, for it had a value of 4,000 dollars per box!
To the HCV patients, this medicine was a life-saving one, even if it was a private transaction. As long as one could prove the medicine was authentic, there would be buyers scrambling to get their hands on it.
Of course, under such circumstances, the price had to be lowered to look attractive; otherwise, buyers would prefer to get them directly from their doctors instead.
Rick held the package carefully, while Lil’ Rick asked, "Anyone interested in this? Since we are in the same business, I can give a 20 percent discount."
The treasure hunter who had shouted "Sofosbuvir" earlier on showed his interest in the medicine.
He gulped before saying, "Big Rick, can’t you lower the price? Even after a 20 percent discount, the price is still too steep!"
Rick said scornfully, "Radison, if you can’t afford the medicine, you should wise up and continue the interferon treatment. Sofosbuvir is not for paupers!"
Li Du looked at Rick coldly and said, "So Mr. Rick now thinks of himself as a life-saving doctor just because he has a box of miracle medicine?"
Rick held his head high and said, "I am not a doctor, but I do have the life-saving medicine!"
Li Du shrugged his shoulders. "What you have seen is just the packaging, who knows what is inside?"
Rick shook the package and said, "See this? The packaging is intact. No one else has touched it!"
Lil’ Rick reiterated, "The unlucky wealthy man died before the medicine arrived, so the medicine was kept away together with all his belongings in this unit by his family."
"What if the information you have is untrue?" Li Du questioned.
Rick had that sly smile on his face again.
"Okay, so are you implying that only the news that you and Big Fox hear is accurate? Some smuggled heavyweight bikes, right?
Li Du immediately understood what Rick was trying to say. "That god-d*mned information came from you, didn’t it? You fooled everyone!"
There were some 60 to 70 treasure hunters who had come to the auction because of this piece of information. In the end, there was no such unit to begin with, and they were very unhappy about it.
Now that Li Du pointed out that the news was fake, everyone stared at Rick in anger.
With a cunning smile, Rick explained, "What I had spread was that there were smuggled motorcycle parts. As all of you have seen, there really are motorcycle parts."
There was nothing to argue about, for they had indeed been fooled by Rick.
This incident had, once again, proven that Dog Ears was really superior to them in terms of information channels, as those motorcycle parts had been in one of the extra units!
Li Du said, "Okay, you won, but so what? Your medicine might not be authentic."
Rick sneered, "Fine then, Chinaman, let your Dog Ears daddy help you gain some knowledge!"
Rick proceeded to open one of the boxes with great caution. Four blister packages, each containing one pill, appeared before him—but they were not actual pills, they were filled with white powder.
Li Du deliberately snorted and spoke in a tone full of sarcastic jealousy: "Sh*t, Dog Ears really has the life-saving medicine! So the famous Sofosbuvir is in powder form!"
Radison, a treasure hunter who was aN HCV patient as well, was staring at the medicine with his eyes wide open, "No, no, no—Sofosbuvir is in pill-form, not powder! This is expired medicine. Expired Sofosbuvir breaks down into powder."
The Ricks were appalled. Lil’ Rick cried out, "Impossible! How did it expire? This medicine was only out of its factory by six months, and it has a shelf life of eighteen months!"
"But it really is expired. Look—all that’s left is powder."
"What a pity! This stuff is worth more than gold!"
"Gold? Diamonds more like it!"
"Take a look at the other tablets—maybe not all of them expired."
Rick was already busy opening the other boxes. The second box was powder as well—the third, powder. One by one, they discovered that all the pills were powder.
With a hideous expression on his face, Rick tore open the remaining boxes. Once again, they were all in powder form.
"F*ck!" a devastated roar was heard.
Li Du was laughing. "Ha-ha! What were you saying just now? A learning opportunity, right? Well, I really did learn something, and that is that some medicine is worth more than gold."
"And who reminded us that we treasure hunters are not cleaners?" asked Hans, who was laughing as well. "How much did you pay for this unit? There seems to be only trash in here!"
Rick stared at the duo with murderous eyes. Lil’ Rick had a mournful expression; he picked up a box and said, "Absolutely impossible—how did it expire?"
"Maybe it was not stored appropriately. Next time you better be careful when you receive news about medicine. When not stored properly, it loses its effectiveness."
The other treasure hunters nodded their heads in agreement.
"Yeah, better be careful, medicines are double-edged swords."
"How unlucky—you could have made around 70,000 dollars!"
"There’s always risk involved in our business, but we better be cautious too."
Hans gave Li Du a pat on the shoulder. "Our luck’s not too bad. We can still make a small profit—"
"Holy sh*t! Boss, there’s an animal in the unit!" A shout was suddenly heard in the unit, and interrupted Hans.
The shout attracted everyone’s attention. They saw a brownish-yellow animal running around in the unit.
The animal was tiny and skinny. It had a length of around 20 centimeters, and it looked frightened with its tail tucked between its back legs. It ran with its head down, just like a small, thin puppy.
Li Du was shocked to see the sight. "Gosh, why is there a dog in a storage unit?"
Hans was amused by Li Du’s comment. He laughed loudly, "That’s not a dog—that’s a raccoon! A white-nosed coati. Hey Rick, you should change your name to Coon Dog Ears!"
Rick was already fuming with rage due to the expired medicine. When he saw the tiny raccoon, he vented his anger by kicking it. The raccoon was sent flying toward Li Du.
Li Du wanted to avoid getting hit, but Ah Meow, who was beside him, took a leap like a goalkeeper saving a shot. Ah Meow then landed on the poor raccoon on the ground.
The raccoon let out a desperate scream when it hit the ground, blood seeping out from its mouth. It looked tragic.
Ocelots were fierce hunters. Ah Meow lifted its sharp claws, wanting to end the life of the tiny raccoon.
Li Du felt that it was too cruel to do that to an animal, and he didn’t want Ah Meow to get in the habit of recklessly killing other animals either, so he called out with a stern voice, "Ah Meow, stop!"
Li Du quickly carried the white-nosed coati in his arms.
Hans warned, "Be careful, raccoons have sharp teeth…"
But before Hans could finish his sentence, the white-nosed coati had already curled up in Li Du’s arms, trembling.
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